Thanks to offseason program, #Eagles WR Matthews is more focused than ever.

PHILADELPHIA — Year 1 is behind Jordan Matthews but not forgotten. The Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver has carried it over to training camp as sort of a lesson learned and reminder to narrow his focus.

Not that he wasn't concentrating all the time last year. It's just that there was some wasted energy that could have been better spent elsewhere.

"The biggest thing about last year is sometimes you get so caught up in just making sure you're doing what you're supposed to do," Matthews said after Sunday's open practice in front of a crowd of 43,000 at Lincoln Financial Field. "It's easy to forget about, `Hey, we've got to go out here and win.'

"Now that I know what I'm supposed to do, I'm just focused on winning. I want to win bad. I don't got to worry about, 'Oh, damn, if I mess up, I might not stay on the field. None of those rookie thoughts ever creep in anymore. It's about going out there and putting a product out on the field that's going to help us win as a team.

"I've got to go out and help in the run game, I've got to be able to catch every ball, I've got to make the big plays downfield. I've got to continue to push … everybody else in practice, just make sure we're a complete receiving corps. And if I can do that and all of us can grow as a receiving corps as a whole offense together, I think we're going to put something out there on the field that everybody can be proud of."

Matthews might have a tough time looking back on what he accomplished as a rookie with anything but pride as well.

The cousin of Jerry Rice nearly broke several franchise records with 62 receptions for 872 yards and eight touchdowns.

At 6-3, 215, Matthews had such a productive season in the slot that the Eagles likely will keep him there for at least one more season. Riley Cooper and Josh Huff have been taking most of the first-team reps outside.

Whether Matthews will ever be a classic "X" split end in their system doesn't matter. Only his production counts.

"[Matthews] can be a problem and certainly being a bigger guy and being a physical kind of release-technique-type guy, if he gets matched up on a [smaller] player, certainly it's an advantage to him," offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "But he certainly is nifty enough to beat a guy his size, but it does help. It's always good to be bigger."

Not to mention better prepared, which Matthews believes is a given following a full offseason in the Eagles' program.

"I know the [scouting] Combine is really important," he said, "but spending countless hours worrying about [your time in the 40-yard dash] isn't helping you get any better at football. All it does is make you think about something that really doesn't matter. And then you get to camp and now you've got to say, `Oh, let me get back to football.'

"Well, this whole offseason, I did nothing but train with guys who are focused on football. I got with quarterbacks and receivers and working with guys like Victor Cruz [of the New York Giants] too. … I worked a little bit with [San Francisco 49ers quarterback] Colin Kaepernick and then spent some time in the offseason with the rest of the Eagles offense down in San Diego. So just being able to focus on nothing but football, that, itself, made me feel more comfortable coming into fall camp."

Matthews is part of a young group. He and Huff came in last year's draft, and Nelson Agholor was taken in the first round this year out of USC.

Huff has no doubt Agholor will succeed right away, which isn't always the case even for receivers who turn out to be great in this league.

"We talk about culture here a lot," Matthews said. "Nelson is a guy who got brought in here who fits the culture to a T. So there's not much [I can teach] Nelson like `Hey, you can't be staying out late.' Nelson's in bed early and he's getting up early, trying to beat me to the facility.

"He's already matured so much more than a lot of guys his age that there's not much teaching that goes on. Now it's really just pushing, it's me going out and making a play and he sees that and says, `Oh I've got to go make a play.' Then Huff goes and makes a play. So it's all just pushing each other. … We're all in this together. We're all around the same age and like brothers."

Having already assumed a leadership role, the future for Matthews looks bright, regardless of where he might line up on the field.